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Wisconsin Standards

Wisconsin Grades 9–10 ELA Standards

All 29 Wisconsin English language arts standards for grades 9–10, each explained in plain English. The official wording is in Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's document, linked at the end of this page.

29 standards

Reading

9 standards
R.9-10.1
Back up readings of a text with strong evidence for what it states and suggests, draw sound inferences, and raise questions worth exploring further.
R.9-10.2
Sum up texts of many genres fairly and accurately to find one or more themes or central ideas, and trace how details build and refine them.
R.9-10.3
Analyze how complex characters grow, interact and drive the plot or theme in stories, and how an author builds an argument step by step in nonfiction.
R.9-10.4
Work out what words mean, including figurative and connotative senses, analyze how word choice shapes tone and mood, and study key terms across genres.
R.9-10.5
Explore how the structure of a story or poem makes meaning and affects readers, and how an author's purpose shapes sentences and sections in nonfiction.
R.9-10.6
Analyze how authors use point of view and purpose to send stated and hidden messages, and explain how place, identity and culture shape their perspective.
R.9-10.7
Compare how a subject is shown in two or more formats, like a novel scene and its film version, noting what each stresses, changes or leaves out.
R.9-10.8
Trace and judge an argument and its claims, checking whether key statements hold up and whether the evidence is relevant and sufficient.
R.9-10.9
Set their own criteria for judging the quality of texts, and link texts to other works, ideas, cultures, identities, eras and their own lives.

Writing

9 standards
W.9-10.1
Write reflectively, formally and creatively, separately or blended, for high- and low-stakes purposes, like a timed essay or a quick journal response.
W.9-10.2
Write arguments and literary analysis that weigh claims and counterclaims, informative texts that explain complex ideas, and narratives with vivid, well-ordered events.
W.9-10.3
Organize writing so ideas connect, use varied transitions to tie sections together, and choose precise, culturally sustaining words and sensory details.
W.9-10.4
Write clearly and coherently, shaping development, organization and style so they respect the writer's culture and fit the task, purpose and audience.
W.9-10.5
Strengthen drafts alone and with classmates by planning, revising, editing or starting over with a fresh approach, aimed at what matters most for the reader.
W.9-10.6
Choose writing tools thoughtfully, from pen and paper to video or multilingual formats, judging how each connects with readers, reaches the audience and fits the ideas.
W.9-10.7
Carry out short and longer research projects on questions they pose or real problems, adjusting the focus as needed and combining several sources to show understanding.
W.9-10.8
Find useful information in trusted print, digital, academic and popular sources with advanced searches, judge each source, and weave it in with proper citations.
W.9-10.9
Use evidence from stories, poems and nonfiction to support their analysis, reflection and research, like quoting a novel to back a claim about its theme.

Speaking and Listening

5 standards
SL.9-10.1
Lead and join discussions with varied partners, coming prepared with evidence, setting group norms, posing questions that link to bigger ideas and weighing other views.
SL.9-10.2
Combine information from several sources in different media and formats, and judge how credible and accurate each one is.
SL.9-10.3
Evaluate a speaker's viewpoint, reasoning, evidence and rhetoric, spotting faulty logic or evidence that is exaggerated or distorted.
SL.9-10.4
Present findings and evidence in an order listeners can follow, shaping the content and style on purpose for the audience, goal and setting.
SL.9-10.5
Choose digital media for a presentation strategically, like a chart for data or a short audio clip, where each one makes the reasoning clearer or adds interest.
Common Core SL.9-10.5

Language

6 standards
L.9-10.1
See standardized English as one dialect among many tied to power, and fit language choices and style rules like MLA to each culture, subject and situation.
L.9-10.2
Figure out unknown and multiple-meaning words with context, word parts and dictionaries, and use word families correctly, like analyze, analysis and analytical.
L.9-10.3
Explain a nonliteral phrase like take steps, name someone who is friendly to link a word to real life, and rank knew, believed and suspected by how sure they are.
Common Core L.3.5
L.9-10.4
Build vocabulary alone and with others when meeting new cultural, academic and subject-specific words, and choose words on purpose to fit the setting, like a lab report.
L.9-10.5
Use standardized English grammar where it fits and explain the choice, including parallel structure and varied phrases and clauses for interest.
L.9-10.6
Use standardized capitalization, punctuation and spelling where the setting calls for it, including colons and semicolons, and explain why.

The official Wisconsin documents

The plain-English lines on this page are EMStudio's own explanations of Wisconsin's standards, not the official wording, which Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction publishes in the documents above. Codes and strand names identify each standard.